From the Editor
a woman with her arms raised in celebration amidst a cloud of confetti

In EdTech, We are Having
the Time of Our Lives

It was the best of times, it was, well, even better than that. It was the time of our lives. Being in the EdTech biz, I think we can safely say that.

This is one of those times when all the stars have aligned and all the forces of good have come together to propel us into a land of milk and honey, a blissful time in our lives when the heavens are smiling, the bunnies are in the meadows, all our ideas are unicorns and the whole narrative is being written for us by one of our programs.

Perhaps the impetus for all this intoxication is the sudden and meteoric rise of generative AI and the accompanying media buzz which has given us all a raging contact high. But it doesn’t stop there. Combine the AI buzz with the sparking up of the post-pandemic techno-rush and a stash of close to $100 billion smackers still hiding in our stimulus funds, and it is hard not to get wasted by all the excitement.

Damn Charles, share some of that stuff you’ve been smoking.

It’s not that. I don’t get high on my own EdTech supply. But I can’t help getting a little tipsy when I read the writing on the wall. And in our world of education technology, the writing is beautiful. A Pulitzer waiting to happen. When the news is this good, how could you not get a bit snockered? Hammered. Wrecked. Plastered. Blitzed. Sozzled. Stewed. Even, dronkverdriet.

On March 13, 2020, schools almost universally decided to take a week or two off for COVID, “to figure shit out.” We all know what happened, but one thing that didn’t happen, we never stopped trying to figure things out. What started as a long Spring break turned into a sea change for public education. It may have taken a pandemic as the catalyst, but after 150 years, education finally decided to stop doing things the way they had always been done.

TTWWHADI (That’s the way we have always done it) was replaced by, What If. And because we were forced into virtual learning, technology took the driver’s seat.

I have literally not seen this much EdTech enthusiasm EVER. A good bit of it is coming from the AI sector.
Thank you, March 13, 2020, a date which no one will remember, even though it changed the world.

I have literally not seen this much EdTech enthusiasm EVER. A good bit of it is coming from the AI sector. I get news feeds many times per day, and not just from the generative side of the AI house. People are on fire, and not just the tech folks. Superintendents, academic officers, principals, and especially teachers. Yep, teachers are fired up about AI. And not fired up in a paranoid, can I keep my job kind of way. They are seeing the value of AI to education, and their role in using AI to help children learn.

When Supes, Teachers and Techies are all excited, at the same time about the same thing, it’s either a glorious revolution in EdTech or the world is about to end. And seeing as how I just got started in this editor’s gig at the new (ET) Magazine, I vote for the former.

And speaking of the new (ET) Magazine, this Spring issue is a doozie. ET asks the tough questions (and answers them). Roger Stark, founder of BrainWare Learning Company, explores the age old question, Can technology actually make us smarter? Zach Vander Veen, founder of Abre, asks, Will the district run better if all the data management is outsourced and can “hands off the data” really be more efficient (and safer)? And Discovery Education’s VP of Partner Success Todd Wirt asks, How can we use the remaining stimulus money to jumpstart innovation nationwide?

This Spring edition of ET Magazine will make you smarter, help fund innovation, and get rid of that annoying Data Headache that has been dragging you down. And at the low, low price of Free, you’ll have plenty of money left to cure hunger and solve world peace.

And if that doesn’t make you feel a little elated, joyful, exhilarated, ecstatic, jubilant, euphoric and over the moon, I don’t know what will.

All My Best,

Charles

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